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The Relation of the Bound Volumes 
to Library of Technology 



The Committee in their selection of this subject evidently- 
had in mind the tendency displayed by some of the Principals 
to allow the requirements of the Library of Technology to 
influence them in the preparation of the Courses. Assuming, 
therefore, that the ultimate purpose of those naming the 
subject was to promote argument along this line, the article 
has been prepared with an end in view to indicate the extent 
to which the prepai"ation of the Instruction Papers should be 
influenced by the subsequent republication in the Library. 
In order to accomplish this analysis, it is necessary to first 
determine the status of both. 

Considering, therefore, the Bound Volumes, it is hardly 
necessary to state that they include the Instruction Papers 
of the several Courses. They are books written for self- 
instruction and their purpose is to form a review library for 
the student upon the completion of his Course. As they are 
an exact counterpart of the Instruction Papers, the conditions 
and factors influencing these must be obtained in the Bound 
Volumes. These conditions and factors are peculiar, because 
in the preparation of the Instruction Papers much must be 
considered. To comply exactly with the requirements, which 
are naturally suggested, is impossible, so that the best result 
is obtained only through a series of compromises. In the 
preparation of the Instruction Papers, it is unquestionably 
the purpose to attain accuracy of statement, sequence of 
thought, together with simplicity of construction and lan- 
guage, and with all, conciseness. The fulfilment of the 
last condition is the great obstacle that prevents the 

Copyright, 1904, by International Textbook Company 
All rights reserved 



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consummation of a perfect Instruction Paper, for the successful 
administration of the actual instruction work of the Schools 
compels a close adherence to the first three requirements 
which are not necessarily compatible with the last. 

As any technical Course prepared for correspondence in- 
struction develops, the tendency of the writer or editor is 
to enlarge both by adding to the matter contained in any 
one subject and by introducing additional subjects. This 
evolution of a Course develops with such rapidity that there 
is danger of making it of such a size as to be unprofitable to 
the Schools and unmanageable to the students. Consider, for 
instance, any of the three principal industrial professions, 
architecture, mechanical, or civil engineering. All of these, on 
account of modern influences, so overlap and interweave that 
it might be said that a Course in either would include in- 
struction in many of the subjects contained in the other two, 
and would likewise involve special studies in electricity, power 
installation, chemistry, and even in commercial law. 

In the preliminary survey of a Course of correspondence 
instruction the question naturally arises what should be 
included in the Course and this is a question which is not 
usually of ready answer. That certain definite subjects, 
always associated with the industrial arts or professions, 
which it is the purpose to teach, are necessary, is evident, 
but there is always a considerable number of associate and 
secondary subjects which suggest themselves. It is in the 
selection of these subjects that the difficulty lies and unless 
the writer has in mind some definite time for finishing the 
work and some substantial limit for the extent of the Course, 
he will be struggling with an immeasurable quantity of work 
in the production of a Course which may appeal to a few but 
will be tiresome and unprofitable to the mass of the students. 

Having made a short resume of the cardinal requirements 
and factors that are involved in the preparation of the 
Instruction Papers or Bound Volumes, it is now in order to 
consider the Library of Technology and endeavor to observe 
to what extent it influences the preparation of the Courses. 
The Library of Technology is primarily an industrial reference 
library. It is more in one way than an encyclopedia and 

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less in another. The number of subjects at present included 
in the Library of Technology is limited when compared with 
the subjects treated in a technical encyclopedia but on the 
other hand the thoroughness with which the several subjects 
are treated is far beyond the possibilities of any technical 
encyclopedia. In respect to the manner in which the several 
subjects are treated, the Library of Technology as at present 
laid out may be likened to an enlarged handbook of the 
principal industrial arts and sciences. It rather includes 
working information than research information and is sup- 
posed to contain valuable matter of reference to those inter- 
ested in the subjects of which it treats. Because of the 
thoroughness with which each subject is discussed in the 
Library and on account of the practicability of the matter and 
superiority of the illustrations, it forms about the only library 
that is not out of place among the equipment of the business 
or technical ofhce and can but occupy the place so long 
unsuccessfullv filled by the handbooks and technical encyclo- 
pedias. 

The Library of Technology because of its cost and evident 
adaptability for reference purposes finds its demands among 
a class of people undoubtedly superior in training and educa- 
tion to those who enroll in the Courses. These reference 
books are used in the majority of instances by minds more 
mature than those possessed by the great percentage of 
correspondence students. They are referred to not as a series 
of exercises or studies, but in order to obtain some item, data, 
or information valuable at the particular moment to the 
referee. This information must be in such a form that its 
practical application may be made immediately and it is 
usually demanded that it shall be empirical and represent 
current practice. The Library of Technology, in order to 
gain the confidence of those who use it, must not be found 
wanting in the information which the referee requires. There 
is nothing so damaging from the standpoint of the business 
man as the failure of a handbook or reference library to give 
information upon the particular subject in which he wishes 
to be informed. Several unsuccessful and successive attempts 
to obtain information in such a library would cause it to be 

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relegated to the position of a mere ornament or to the space 
already overcrowded with last year's industrial periodicals. 

Again, the Library of Technology must be compact. Need- 
less material introduced into these books only tends to bury 
the valuable information which forms their basis as books of 
reference. An unpardonable defect in any reference library 
exists in the system of cross-references so frequently adopted. 
Nothing so discourages an attempt to obtain an item of 
information as to be referred from one section to another in 
what soinetimes proves to be a fruitless search for some fact 
or formula of instant value and of great practical utility. 
Not only must the Library of Technology fulfil these several 
requirements, but it must contain the current practice of the 
industrial world, that is, the information given must be 
according to the usage and recent practice. 

It is now assumed that the general requirements of both 
the Bound Volumes and Library of Technology have been 
established and it is therefore logical to attempt to draw 
conclusions which it is hoped will show to some extent the 
relation of the one to the other, and how this relationship 
should influence the writer or editor of the Instruction 
Papers. 

The qualification of accuracy is necessary to both the 
Instruction Papers and the Library of Technology. A mis- 
statement or false representation of facts or insufficient and 
obscure data not thoroughly proved nor well substantiated 
is dangerous to the success of either. While in all of the 
Instruction Papers it is the effort to show the best practice, 
the writer, bearing in mind the requirements of the Library 
of Technology, should not fail to explain the usual practice. 
Though rules and formulas, such as those instituted by the 
general government, municipalities, or insurance companies 
may not be the best and may not give results entirely satis- 
factory, nevertheless, these should be given in our Instruction 
Papers, not because they are of great value to the student 
but primarily because they will form most valuable sections 
in the Library of Technology. In the introduction of such 
data, the writer or editor must not be entirely influenced by 
the course of instruction upon the one hand nor the Library 

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of Technology upon the other. There must not be included 
in the Instruction Papers c^uantities of matter unimportant 
to the student, but probably valuable as reference matter to 
the business or professional man. On the other hand the 
Library of Technology would lose much of its value if the 
marine engineer could find nothing relative to the govern- 
mental inspection, the architect nothing relating to the build- 
ing ordinances of New York City, or if the mechanical engineer 
looked in vain for the rules and regulations of the Hartford 
Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co., and if the textile 
mill owner fails to find data furnished and approved by the 
Underwriters. It is therefore undoubtedly of benefit to the 
Library of Technology and little or no detriment to the 
Course of instruction if the writer in selecting material for 
his subjects introduces material and data of importance and 
value required in the administration of industrial establish- 
ments or professions, though probably of secondary value to 
the student. 

The Library of Technology gains much from the logical 
arrangement and sequence of thought expressed, in our 
Instruction Papers. It would, however, be deleterious to 
the Library if language was introduced containing vulgar 
technicalities and including idioms and similes not purely 
explanatory but relevant and intended by the writer to 
appeal to the illiterate class of students. Having in mind 
the Library of Technology and the class of people which it 
reaches, the writer should cultivate a dignity of expression 
and diction which does not loose any of its simplicity or 
clearness. 

As conciseness is a more important qualification in the 
Library of Technology than in the Instruction Papers, an 
effort should be made in the preparation of the latter to 
introduce as few explanatory examples as is consistent with 
the demonstration of the text. In many cases one or two 
examples for practice can be made to serve the purpose of 
a half dozen or more, and extensive solutions including much 
detail and many explanatory remarks should be most care- 
fully written with a view to condensing without affecting its 
clearness. 



In the several instances cited above, the existence of the 
Library of Technology should exert a certain modifying 
influence in the preparation of the Instruction Papers, and 
while it is a question whether it should determine in any way 
the selection of the subjects in a Course of instruction, its 
influence should certainly be felt in the arrangement of those 
subjects. An inspection of the Library of Technology reveals 
the fact that certain peculiarities in the arrangement of the 
Instruction Papers have caused ambiguities and repetitions 
that are far from desirable. While it is not the intention to 
deal specifically with these in this article, several instances 
might be mentioned, which tend to show, now that the 
Library of Technology is an accomplished fact, where writers 
and editors may in the production of the Instruction Papers 
avoid difficulties encountered in the arrangement of the 
Library of Technology. 

An example in illustration of this is contained in the volume 
of the Library entitled "Sheet-Metal Pattern Drafting." In 
this book there is a section denoted as Architectural Pro- 
portion. Many of the cuts in this work and much of the text 
matter are taken from papers upon Architectural History, 
Architectural Design and Masonry construction included in 
the Architectural Course. It is therefore evident that a 
purchaser of certain volumes of the Library of Technology 
will have in his possession duplicate information, a condition 
which is opposed to conciseness. Again, consider the volumes 
on Marine Engineering, Steam Engines, and Steam Boilers. 
In these books it is found that there is much information 
repeated so that if the papers of which these volumes are 
compiled had been differently arranged to suit the require- 
ments of the Library of Technology, the matter contained in 
them might have been materially decreased. 

Relative to the matter of cross-references, it is observed 
that a certain paper on Architectural Design included in the 
Library contains many references to drawing plates not pub- 
lished with the Library. While such cross-references work 
no particular hardship in the Instruction Papers, they are 
a decided detriment to the Library of Technology, as the 
objections received already would indicate. 

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Presupposing that there is a tendency for some of the 
writers and editors to enlarge the scope of their Courses, in 
order to supply material in the Library of Technology, soine- 
thing may be said upon this score. But for commercial 
considerations it might be well to make many of our principal 
Courses most thorough, covering all of the primary as well 
as the secondary subjects likely to be required by one prac- 
ticing the industrial arts and professions. The length of a 
Course, however, should be governed to a certain extent by 
the market price that can be conveniently obtained for such 
a Course among the people comprising the clientage of the 
Schools. If the Course is very extensive, the prices must be 
high, in order to give adequate remuneration for the material 
furnished and the instructions given, when the enrolment 
may be correspondingly low and the cost of instruction and 
administration great. It might be said, also, that students lose 
interest in lengthy Courses and fail to appreciate the purpose 
of many of the subjects introduced. 

As the Library of Technology must, from the very nature 
of things, be subordinate to the Bound Volumes or Instruc- 
tion Papers, it does not seem that a principal or writer should 
be governed in the least in his selection of the subjects to be 
included in the Course by the requirements of the Library of 
Technology, though here a distinction is made between the 
subjects themselves and the matter included in the subject. 
If the Library urgently needs a subject which is not advisable to 
include in any Course, it would seem far better to prepare 
separate and distinct matter upon the particular subject than 
to include it in the Course already of sufficient length and 
adapted to its purpose. 

In summation of the arguments advanced relative to this 
subject, it is well to reiterate that the Library of Technology 
must be necessarily subordinate to the Bound Volumes or 
Instruction Papers, but that regardless of this insubordination 
they exert a modifying influence. This influence is felt 
particularly in the arrangement of the subjects in the Courses, 
as care in this respect will avoid repetition in the Library. 
Only such language and diction should be used in the Instruc- 
tion Papers as will be suitable for the higher requirements of 

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029 944 060 6 

the reference library. Examples for practice and explanatory 
solutions to problems should be reduced to the smallest 
compass possible, consistent with a thorough demonstration of 
the text. All cross-references should be studiously avoided, for 
though they may even be an advantage in the Instruction Papers , 
they are a decided detriment to the Library. Such data and 
formulas, as are in demand, should be given in the Instruction 
Papers, and they should illustrate current practice. The 
inclination to give only one formula or rule when there are 
several that are favored with equal approval should not be 
allowed to dominate to the detriment of the Library. In 
general, the writer or editor should study carefully the require- 
ments of the Library with the end in view of making the 
Instruction Papers suitable for republication as a reference 
book, bearing in mind that as these volumes increase in scope 
and popularity, the burden of proof may lie with the Course 
of instruction. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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